XPS 410 - Is the 4 GB memory limit for real?

Dell specs show XPS 410 desktop as only supporting 4 GB of RAM. When I took the desktop into a store to upgrade the memory, the tech looked up XPS 410 and told me the chipset would only support 4 GB.

Yet I see a LOT of (non-Dell) web pages claiming the memory limit is 8 GB.

Has anyone upgraded their memory beyond 4 GB successfully? Can someone verify the 4 GB limit is a certainty?

I recently installed a beta of (64-bit) Windows 7 to see if 64-bit SONY Vegas 9.0b was capable of rendering-without-crashing a video project which would NOT render successfully with 32-bit SONY Vegas 9.0b. It worked. 32-bit failed, 64-bit rendered.

I'm not sure why. The system only has 4 GB of RAM. I understand Win XP 32-bit only sees 3.5 GB of that, but its not like VEGAS90.EXE process was crawling up to 3 GB in size. Anyway I'd like to try increase my RAM past 4 GB if possible, since the 512 MB of extra RAM is the only reason I can think of that 32-bit failed and 64-bit worked.

The original specs stated 4GB max. At that time the 410 was only sold with a 32 bit OS and the original Dell Bios only supported 4GB. The 410 will handle 8GB max with a 64bit OS. I am running Vista 64 and Windows 7 64 on my 410 and currently have 6GB in it. Not knowing if you have ever updated the Bios I would recomend that you download and install the newest one.

You wrote an interesting reply concerning the Dell XPS 410. I have been curious about this system's ability to accept more than 4 gigs of memory when a 64 bit operating system is installed. I also have an XPS 410 with a configuration which is much the same as yours. I do have the latest BIOS that dell offered (which I think was published in late 2007). I understand this Intel P965 chipset that this computer uses 'does' support remapping beyond the 4 GB line. However, if I am understanding things correctly, it is best to only put in a total of 6 gigs of memory versus 8 gigs of memory because of the memory remapping feature that must take place. Is that correct?

This brings up some more questions though:

Will the latest published BIOS from dell (late 2007) for the XPS 410 support the remapping of memory and automatically remap the PCI configuration space to be remapped above the 6GB line if a person selects a total of 6 gigs of ram like you did? Did you have to do any special enabling in the BIOS? If so, I would not have a clue how to do that. Assuming that you are using 3 out of your four dims with 1 gig stick of memory in each dimm, does all of the memory only run in single channel mode versus the dual channel mode (because you are only using 3 of your 4 dimms)? For example, even when I was running 32 bit Vista, I knew that I would not be able to utilize all 4 gigs of memory. However, I thought it was best to keep matched pairs so the memory would run in dual channel? Does the same situation not hold true for higher amounts of memory? Are you saying that it is best to only put in 6 gigs so that the computer can utilize the unused memory for remapping. In other words, is the system actually better optimized for you at 6 gigs of memory versus placing 8 gigs of memory in your XPS 410 to allow for the remapping to take place after the 6GB line? If you had put in a total of 8GB of ram, what would have been the effects of that versus what you did? I am just trying to understand. At present, I only have 4 GB memory but might be interested in adding more later. Thank you in advance for any feedback.

You can definitely use 8 GB of RAM in your XPS even though Dell says 4 as long as you're running an operating system that will support the additional memory. I'm running 8 GB in my Dell XPS 410 and I wrote a blog about it: http://wp.me/pDygv-t6

bringing my system to 6GB. The two new Corsair sticks caused multiple BSOD on my XPS 410; this system was successfully upgraded to Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate and a new SSD drive for my system (Intel X25M) and a new NVIDIA GTS 450 . Removing the new Corsair memory and returning it to the original 4GB from Dell resolved the BSOD, so I am certain it was the memory causing the blue screen of death problems.

Couple of questions about the memory you chose (which is slightly different than what I tried above):

1. What is your Memory Ram score for Windows on your system (presumably, Windows Server has the "experience" index like Win7?)

2. Have you had any problems with your 8GB since you did this back in Feb 2011 (it is now March 2011)?

No problems what so ever. The machine has run 10 hours a day 5 days a week since the upgrade without issue.

Does Dell support 8GB of RAM? The reason I question this is that they offer 2GB memory chips when searching for upgrades for the XPS 410 and the official specs say 1GB chips are the max.

Are the two 2Gb Corsair memory chips you purchased a different speed than the two 1Gb chips in your machine? I replaced four 1GB PC2-5300 chips with four 2GB PC2-6400 chips so mine are all identical speed. I wrote a blog about memory upgrades a while back that has a few tips in it: http://wp.me/pDygv-pq

My suggestion - Try just the two 2Gb Corsair chips without any other RAM. Test with Memtest86+ and Prime95. If it works, buy two more 2Gb chips just like the two you have.

They also may not be 1.8 volt memory sticks, some overclocked sticks require up to 2.2 volts which your motherboard may not support. I got burned on this with some Crucial memory I bought for my Inspiron 530,

I purchased my Dell XPS 410 with 2GB of ram (2x1gb) then upgraded to 4GB (4x1gb) and was told about the 4GB limit. When I purchased my pc, it was with Windows XP 32bit. When I discussed my desire to upgrade to 8GB they talked me out of it because XP only recognizes 2 1/2 or 3GB of memory. Anything else would be a waste because it would never get touched. I recently upgraded my pc to Windows 7 64bit. Upon doing so, I upgraded my memory to 8GB (4x2gb). The system recognizes it and it is extremely fast. I had 256 processes going and averaged 1% CPU usage. I can verify with absolute certainty that the XPS 410 will support 8GB when using running Windows 7 64bit.